Technical Field
The present subject matter relates to wireless devices. More specifically it relates to performing an action based on detection of a wireless device.
Background Art
Mobile battery-powered wireless devices, such as smartphones, tablets, headsets, speakers, fitness tracking devices, smart watches, and the like, have grown to be nearly ubiquitous in modern society. Many people carry one or more such device with them nearly 100% of the time. The type of wireless connection can vary between devices and include radio frequency and/or optical communication technologies. Some devices can only communicate using one wireless communication technology, such as one of the various versions of IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi®), various versions of Bluetooth® from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, cellular phone technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) or Long Term Evolution (LTE). Some devices include the capability to communicate over multiple wireless technologies. For example a typical smartphone, such as the Samsung® Galaxy S®4 includes one or more radio transceivers capable of communicating using multiple cellular phone technologies at various frequencies, which vary according to the geographic area where the phone is marketed, one or more radio transceivers to communicate over the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands using Wi-Fi technologies, another radio transceiver to communicate over the 2.4 GHz band using Bluetooth technologies, and an infrared transmitter, among others.
Many homes and businesses have a Wi-Fi gateway to allow devices, such as mobile battery-powered wireless devices or other devices such as notebook computers, desktop computers, or printers that include a Wi-Fi network interface, to access a local network and/or to access the internet. Most Wi-Fi gateways support one or more types of security to control which devices are allowed to connect. Examples of Wi-Fi security include Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), various versions of Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), Media Access Controller (MAC) filtering, not broadcasting the Service Set Identifier (SSID), and other techniques. Some of the Wi-Fi security methods ask a user to enter a code or other authentication into the device before the device is allowed to connect to the Wi-Fi Gateway, while others utilize a characteristic of the device to determine whether or not the device has been previously authorized. Other wireless communication technologies have their own security techniques to prevent unauthorized devices from accessing resources.
Some homes and businesses also include a home security and/or automation system. A typical home security system includes a central monitoring device and sensors to detect unauthorized entry to the premises and/or movement in or around the premises. The central monitoring device can then take action based on input from the sensors such as sounding an alarm, turning on a light, communicating with the police or monitoring service, and/or simply logging the event. A typical home control system includes one or more devices that can be controlled remotely. In some home automation systems, there is a central unit responsible for communicating with the devices to be controlled, but in other systems, the devices communicate over a standard wireless interface, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth so that a computer, smartphone, tablet, or other device can directly control the devices. This is sometimes referred to as the internet of things (IoT). In some cases, the devices can even be controlled through the internet from anywhere in the world.